Friday, March 23, 2012

Bloomberg Praises a Charter-to-Charter Turnaround

Good to see:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has used public school closings as a cornerstone of his school reform strategy, sometimes replacing them with charter schools.

When the Harlem Day charter school lost its charter last year because of poor academic performance, it was replaced by another charter school, the first charter-to-charter turnaround in the city, and Mr. Bloomberg said it was a model for how to deal with other failing charter schools.

The mayor spoke at a benefit Tuesday night for Democracy Prep, a network of charter schools in Harlem that is taking over the failed school, and has reopened it under the name Harlem Prep Charter School.

Democracy Prep is the first charter-management organization to take on the task of restructuring a failing charter school. At the benefit, Mr. Bloomberg praised its emphasis on academic achievement, which includes keeping a close eye on teacher performance.

"Harlem Prep believes that with great instruction, high standards and hard work, every child, in this case, all 270 scholars, can and will succeed," Mr. Bloomberg said, noting the number of students currently enrolled in Harlem Prep.

"And that's a vision that our administration shares for all the kids in the city," he said. "It's why we're so committed to reforming New York's once-broken school system and the new teacher evaluation system we've negotiated with Andrew Cuomo, and hopefully the teachers' union will not try to stop the accords or by not negotiating the last few little details will really give parents the information they need to make decisions."